The World that Sleeps
by Teamplayer101
Summary: Dealing with the hardships of reality, bullying and antisocializim, Rhys retreats into a world of his own mind to deal with hardships of his life, Unknown to him that his make believe world is more real than he imagined it to be. On Haitus for three days.
1. Writers note

**Hey everyone. Now I know this has done almost an infinite about of times. And you're probably about to groan, Say how over used this Idea is and then click out of the fanfiction story.**

**But what you're going to miss out on is something I have been working on for almost 5 years. I have tried to fill the many plot holes in FFX with my own side story. The story of the Elemental Guardians. I admit I have failed a couple of times and yes, I have even given up trying to finish this story through out its many rewrites. But this time I'm going to do it right, I am going to fully finish this story and if I have enough strength in me. I'll move onto FFX-2. Please support this story and review it! Don't forget to follow it as well.**

**Also. If you are interested in the After-Story of this series. Please check out Hikari-Angel143 and read her awesome story, Feel free to check out her other ones as well.**

**Also, This story is deticated to the ton of people who have supported me and helped me through alot of things in my life. A very special thanks goes out to Xedina Fairlady for helping me with some of my plot holes that breach past FFX-2. Anyway. It's my honor to rewrite my first fanfiction and I hope you enjoy reading it.**

**Hopefully it'll make you smile and think about this side based storyline. I also hope it makes you laugh ^^ Some of the Characters can be a bit wacky some times. Anyway, Lets get this show on the road shall we?**


	2. The Average Life of a Teen

_There was fire everywhere, It was burning the housing and the nearby wooden fences and gates, The barn was fuelled up like a cinder, everything was in complete chaos. People were screaming and running for their lives, mothers holding onto their children, Full of fear of the coming threat._

_Suddenly a ferocious roar came from the misted sky. A large shadow passing over the murky clouds, flapping it's enormous wings. Within the sheer second of thought, the large mysterious creature dove down towards the terrified village people and landed with a tremendous bang._

_It was the Dragon known as Azaru the Destroyer. It's scales stuck out like bones and its eyes completely crimson and full of so much evil that even Lucifer himself would not dare look the creature in the eye. Its wings were tattered, Its claws were as dark as shadow. And it's teeth were so sharp that it could cut through sheer steel with a single bite. It was truly a ferocious sight_

_"**ALL HAIL THE MIGHTY AZARU! DESTORYER OF ALL!**" The Dragon's menacing tone rung through out the town, Its voice so wicked and evil with devilish intent on the innocent villagers._

_"**NO MAN DARE FACE ME IN COMBAT!**" He shrieked again! His speech so loud it caused the nearby barn to finally shatter into a compiling heap of wood and ash._

_"That is where you are wrong foul fiend!" A fresh new voice sounded from far down the dirt-like street._

_"**HRM? A CHALLENGER?**" The creature question with such great authority, and thus as the large beast turned to eye out his opponent, he spotted a tall man in golden armour. A loin indentation across the chest-plate of his protective gear glinted in the moonlight, his short red cape gently floated in the midnight air and his long black hair seemed to float within the passing wind._

_"**PUNY MORTAL! YOU HAVE THE THOUGHT TO ATTACK ME IN MEER COMBAT! I WILL FEAST ON YOUR BONES!**" The large Dragon shouted in incomparable pride and power._

_The Golden Knight pulled his gallant longsword from its sheath and reached towards his back where he had placed his golden shield with the same indentation as his chest-plate._

_"Prepare to meet your doom!" He shouted, breaking into a full sprint at the enormous beast._

_Azaru let out another tremendous roar and began to crawl his way along the dirt towards his challenger, it's mouth opened wide to reveal his razor sharp maw._

_And as the Knight ran to challenge the creature, He raised his sword up above him and leapt from the ground, Ready to deliver the blow._

* * *

"Christopher Lone!" The annoyed science teacher; Mr Connor, yelled. Obviously unpleased with one of his students napping during his class, Let alone snoring.

"Whu? What? Where's the Dragon?" The student perked his head up, glaring out to the left and right, looking for his vicious opponent and receiving a fit full of laughs from the other students in his classroom.

All while his teacher made his way towards his desk in a furious march.

"I have told you many times to not sleep in my class room Mr Lone! If you are just going to come to school and sleep then why bother coming at all!" He yelled right up in his face, Scaring the poor teen to death.

Then suddenly from out of nowhere. It seemed as if the bell had saved his bacon because class was then over at that moment.

Chris rubbed his light blue eyes to clear himself from exhaustion and then proceeded to close and pile up the books on his desk into a neat small pile. One on which he lifted under his shoulder and was ready to leave the room.

"Chris! I'd like a word with you please" His teacher shouted from over the chitter chatter of his classmates leaving the room, His finger wiggling at Chris while he was marking something on his desk.

"Christopher. This has got to stop. Your disrupting the other students, You never do your homework, You've flunked twice already, you're always sleeping in class. Why are you sleeping so much?" Mr Connor asked, Having seemed to calm down after shouting at his student.

But Chris didn't answer him, He just looked at the ground in silence and waited, Hoping that the teacher would just let him go.

"Alright well I'm going to have to do something about this Chris, I'm sending a note home to your mother and hopefully she'll be able to get you into proper sleeping arrangements. Because if you keep this attitude up, I'm going to have to fail you.. Again. is that understood?" Mr Connor said with a stern tone, Looking directly at Chris.

"Yes Mr Connor..." He said quietly.

"Alright. Off you go, Have a good night Chris." He said, Returning to his notes and test marking.

"Its Rhys." He spoke to himself after exiting the room, pulling up his black hood to cover his face from any other classmates, He hated being noticed and didn't do well with social skills. People often called him Lone the Loner due to his personality and lack of friends.

He just wanted to get to his locker and go home.

Arriving at his locker, he proceeded in the task of inputting the combinations into his lock to gain access to his storage.

After the success of unlocking his locker, He retrieved his backpack and skateboard, exchanging them for his book and pencil's. Slamming the door shut and making his way towards the exit.

Hopping onto his board and pushing his foot along the ground to gain speed.

Rhys was a natural pro as skating, He knew how to pull off Kick-flips and an assortment of other styles with ease. He'd shove his hands into his pockets and continue to push through out the small mountain town.

It was quiet today, hardly a cloud in the afternoon sky as the teenager rolled his way home upon his two year old board, His hands were firmly stuffed into his pockets and his hood covered his shoulder short hair.

He took the long way home of course, Passing through the large shopping street that sold electronics, clothes and groceries. It even had it's own food court. It was mainly where most of the school students went to hang out after the long and tiring school day.

"Oh hey look here he comes- Hey Loner! Where you headed?" A voice sounded from the small cafe that sold the best deserts in town.

Rhys was in his own state of mind and chose to ignore the voice, Unfortunately for him, The person behind the voice had extreme anger issue's and was almost issued as a psycotic by anyone who got in his way.

They got up, Ran in front of him and stepped on the forward part of his board, Causing him to fly forwards and roll against the ground in agony.

Rhys held his now grazed arm after picking himself, Looking over at who had thrown him five feet and saw a student named Zack Quinn, One of the 'Jocks' if you'd prefer, This guy was pretty muscular for his age and had no shame in showing off said muscles. He was also well known through-out the school as a vicious bully who always got what he want.

"Awww, That looks like it hurt Loner," Zach said, Holding up Rhys's board with his right arm and then throwing it onto the ground and then returning to his 'friends' at the table he had been seated.

"H-Hey! What the hell man!" Rhys said, Rushing over to check if his board wasn't snapped.

Zach wasn't exactly the kind to be talked to with authority. He hated such things, And as Rhys was ready to take his board and leave. Zach ran right in and punched him in the side of the face, Leaving Rhys with a black eye and a long pause on the ground.

"Fucking little emo." He spoke in a menacing tone, Spitting at him before finally returning to his seat and watching the Hoodie wearing teen pick up his skateboard and walk off. Pulling his hood back over his head after it was thrown off from the force of the hit.

Unknown to anyone else, Rhys was severely upset from the punch to the face, a tear streaked down the side of his bruised face as he walked his way home.

Rhys hated school, Rhys hated socialising, He hated everything about this town. He just wanted to leave and never come back.


	3. New Neighbor's

Rhys walked along the path that led home, they were dribbled with raindrops due to the clouds becoming a much more darker gray. He was going to be late for dinner and surely receive a scolding from his mother.

Retrieving the key from under the doormat, he jolted it into the lock and twisted it to the right, turning the knob and slowly entering the house. He made sure his hood was covering his face as he closed the door, he would have hated it if his mother found out about what had happened.

"Christopher? Dinner will be ready soon, Can you please get your sister" His mother asked from the kitchen just across from the entrance.

But the teen didn't answer her, he just dropped his skateboard on the ground and made his way upstairs rather quickly. At that moment, his mother realized something was wrong. She tilted her head to the side and the placed the knife she was cutting with beside the cutting board

"Christopher? Honey are you alright?" His mother asked from the bottom of the stairs, Wiping off her hands with a cloth. But there was no answer in return, the only thing she heard was the sound of her son slamming his room door shut.

Rhys leaned up against the back of his door and sniffled, he was actually beginning to cry this time, he longed for an escape from this cruel town. He had no friends and no one to talk to during his time at school, He was really alone

He took off his hoodie and jeans. He threw his shoes off to the side and peeled off his socks, jumping into bed in his boxers and rolled over onto the side. He didn't feel like facing his mother with a black eye. Hopefully it would be gone in the morning, It was Saturday tomorrow meaning he could just lounge around the house with no real reason to go outside. That was how he enjoyed it.

* * *

When Saturday came, It was a very clouded morning, It even started to rain just like the previous day before the teen managed to get himself out of bed, The first thing he did was take a long hot shower to wake himself up, the hot running water seemed to rejuvenate his body

After he had dried himself off, he took a long look at himself in the mirror. The black eye he had received was not gone, In-fact it was even more noticeable than it was yesterday.

He groaned in the thought of his mother finding out, then he came up with an idea.

"_I'll just tell her I slipped on my skateboard, yeah that'll work." _He thought to himself while dressing himself in beige cargo pants and a black shirt.

Meanwhile downstairs, It was Saturday morning cartoons playing on the television for his little sister Mikayla while his mother was in the kitchen making pancakes for breakfast, The sweet sound of her mixture filled the air as Rhys made his way to get himself something to drink

"Good Morning Chr- Christopher! What happened to your eye!" She gasped in horror, bringing her hand to cover her mouth.

"Mom, Relax.. I just tripped while skateboarding yesterday, its nothing serious" He said as he scouted the refrigerator for some orange juice

His mother sighed in relief, placing her hand on her chest to still her fast paced heart

"You need to be more careful Chris, You could have gotten seriously injured" She closed her eyes and shook her head, Turning back around to continue mixing the pancake mixture.

"Anyway, That family we saw a couple of weeks ago. The Hatsu family. their moving into the house next door to us today, They have a son about the same age as you and I'd like you to at least try making friends with him." his mother asked, pouring the mixture carefully into the frying pan.

"No thank you.." he muttered to himself. Opening the top cupboard to retrieve a clean glass, pouring some orange juice into it and then taking a long gulp of the sour liquid, placing the cup down onto the table and then making his way to the lounge room where he flopped onto the couch, pulling the small blanket that was pushed to the side over him.

"It'll be good for you!" She said from the kitchen, sighing and shaking her head, getting back to her cooking

It was regular TV programming, A couple of kid shows about 'friendship' and 'learning' until the commercials played, It was a regular Saturday morning. They eat breakfast and did what they usually did on a saturday. Mikayla would be up in her room playing with her toys while Rhys's mother cleaned the house.

Everything was completely peaceful until the sound of a truck backing up sounded from across their home.

Rhys was curious on what the noise was so he decided to take a peek out the window, noticing a moving truck backing into the next door house while a figure in a gray raincoat opened up the garage. Rhys then heard a rustling noise near the door and turned to see his mother putting on her raincoat and then reaching to Mikayla's

"Mikayla! Sweety come on! You too Christopher" She said, Calling her children over to her

"I'm going over to help the neighbors move in. I want you to come with me please" His mother said, walking over and handing him his large zip up hoodie jacket.

"Ugh.. Why?" He protested.

"Because I want them to know that this is a nice neighborhood and that they wont have to be completely alone" She answered in a stern voice, holding up her daughter's pink coat.

"Lets go Mommy!" She cheered, Running down the stairs to the front door with her hands out like an airplane, allowing her mother to place it over her.

"Hurry up, They're no doubt going to need a hand with their belongings" She said from the front door.

Rhys was very unwilling to go but he didn't have much of a choice now really, he put his shoes and socks on, then zipped up his jacket. Pulling the hood over his head on his way out.

Now it wasn't exactly pouring rain but it was indeed wet outside and as a white haired man hopped out of the rented moving truck, he waved his hand at Rhys's mother

"Hello Mr Hatsu! I just thought you'd want a hand with moving in! I brought my children along to help to, This is my son Christopher and my Daughter Mikayla." She said, introducing her two pride and joys.

"I think that would be great Mrs Lone, Honey did you hear that? The Lone family is going to help us move in" Mr Hatsu called out to the other side of the truck.

A long silver haired woman with a gentle smile on her face walked around the moving van, her hair was blowing in the wind as they started to get more rain.

"Yes I heard, we would be delighted if you gave us a hand" She bowed in slight respect.

"Ryou!" Mrs Hatsu called out.

"Coming!" A younger voice entered from the back of the truck. It was a white haired teenager wearing a zipped up green bomber jacket and brown cargo pants.

"This is my son Ryou." Mr Hatsu said as his son came out from behind the truck with two boxed stacked on top of each other.

"Its nice to meet you Ryou" Rhys's mother said with a smile

"Ryou these are our next door neighbors, The Lone family. This is Chris and Mikayla." He father continued to introductions.

"Hello" Ryou said with a large smile on his face.

"Chris why don't you help Ryou take that other box to his room, Go on" Rhys's mother asked, Giving him a nudge forwards.

Rhys simply sighed and unwillingly agreed, reaching his arms out and taking the top box, walking towards the open garage of the new house and using the door inside to enter.

The both of them were completely silent as they made their way up the stairs and to a room on the back right side of the house, there Rhys and Ryou placed both boxes down onto the floor and headed back outside to grab the rest of them

Neither of them spoke to each other, It was either because Ryou was too shy to say something to Rhys, or that Rhys was too bothered by actually speaking to the new neighbor's son, he wasn't exactly happy with socializing and making friends.

It took about the fifth visit to Ryou's room before he actually began to speak to Rhys.

"So... Do you.. Like.. Video-games?" He asked, quite nervously.

"... I have a play-station at home" Rhys somewhat muttered in his reply.

"Cool. What games do you have?" Ryou asked yet another question, feeling more confident this time as they ascended the stairs.

"Well.. I have Dragon Quest.. Grand Theft Auto.. Time Splitters.." Rhys muttered, he wasn't exactly enjoying himself. But he was warming up to the topic.

"I have Dragon Quest as well. I haven't played any of the new Grand Theft Auto Games though.." Ryou said with slight worry, he wanted to sound cool to Rhys but he was afraid he'd just seem like a nerd.

"Uh.. I have Mortal Kombat if you want to play later" Ryou asked, Slumping his head down slightly, hoping that he didn't seem like a sadist for having such a gruesome game.

Then something happened to Rhys that he hadn't had happen to him for quite a while, he curved his lips slightly and smiled.

"Sure.."


	4. Confrontation

An entire week had passed since the two teenagers met for the first time, They had surprisingly become friends over that allotted time since they very much went to the same school. However, even though the two were some what friends now, Rhys was still very cold and barely spoke. It was mainly Ryou who did most of the talking when they wandered the streets.

"I'm talking cheer-leaders man. You see the way they look at me? Mmmhmm!" Ryou spouted, Hugging his hands over himself with such explanation.

The two had taken to the streets, They were just mainly wandering and hanging out. Rhys rode along the side of the rode with his board while Ryou maintained speed with his friend.

"That's mainly because every time you try to ask them out you make a complete fool of yourself by spilling out those corny pick-up lines, you do know they don't actually work right?" Rhys said with a lower toned voice. Hands in his pockets, his hoodie up and his eyes focused on his footing while riding his board.

"They laugh though" Ryou said, raising what would seem to be a valid point

"At you." Rhys replied, completely tearing that point in half.

"Pfff, Whatever. One of these days the ladies will be clawing all over me" Ryou said with a smug grin plastered on his face

"Sounds painful" Rhys slightly smirked.

"That's not what I meant!" He shouted in a jokingly manner.

"Why don't we have girlfriends man?" Ryou groaned, placing his hands behind his head as he walked alongside Rhys.

"Girlfriends are a pain and a waste of my time." Rhys bluntly put it. Bringing his skateboard to a stop and slamming his foot down on the back of it, shooting up and into his hand, tucking it under his arm for safe keeping, Walking down the long shopping street with his white haired friend beside him.

The two were silent as they wandered the outdoor mall. They ordered a bite to eat at one of the many take-away restaurants scattered across the street, sitting down at the nearby cafe to eat their lunch.

Ryou then noticed something completely off about Rhys, his hands were shaking as he started to eat his small plastic container of chips. Rhys was under heavy panic due to the place they were eating, It was a regular spot for Zach to hang around. Rhys had known this due to the constant crap he got from the bully.

"Rhys? Are you alright man?" Ryou asked out of sheer concern.

"I-I'm alright.." He stuttered, he was still shaking, afraid of what the psychotic student would do to him if he saw him sitting at the cafe.

"Loner.." Rhys heard a voice from the front of the Cafe. His eyes instantly widened and his shaking got a little bit more intense.

"W-We need to go now.." Rhys whispered, terrified of the large student

"What are you talking about? We just got here." Ryou raised his brow, Looking towards the entrance of the Cafe to see the large student approaching their table.

"Hey buddy, Who's your friend" Zach chuckled, curling his arm around the panicked teen, glaring over at Ryou.

"My name's Ryou, Its a pleasure to meet you" Ryou just smiled. Unaware of who exactly this guy was.

"Ha. He even has good manners too, you could learn a thing or two from this guy" Zach whispered into Rhys's ear. It panicked him even more, The titan-like teens arm getting more tighter and tighter as he lingered at the table.

"Uh.. You're getting a little close to my friend there man, You mind letting him go?" Ryou asked politely, Rhys's eyes grew even wider when Zach's arm was slowly unslung around his neck and approached Ryou.

Within a sheer action of violence, Zach cuffed his entire hand around Ryou's mouth and lifted him up out of his seat, Rhys was completely shocked by the nature of this guys attitude.

"What was that?" Zach asked, His eyes wide and seemingly glaring into Ryou's soul.

Rhys darted his eyes to his skateboard on the ground, Then back at the situation conversing before him he had to do something or Zach was most likely going to put his new friend into the hospital.

The teenager didn't think twice when performing his next action, He quickly snatched his skateboard up off of the ground and raised it over his head, moving behind the large student and then cracking the back of his board across his head.

With complete response to the slam, Zach's hand loosened as he fell to his knee's. Leaning himself up against the table.

"R-RUN!" Rhys shouted, Dashing out of the store with Ryou close behind. Meer seconds later, Zach came darting from the cafe. He was pissed.

"_Shit! I'm going to fucking die_" Rhys thought to himself as the both of them literally ran for their lives.

But unfortunately Zach caught up and dive-tackled Rhys to the ground, Bringing his fist up and hitting the teenager constantly.

The fight was far from over though as Ryou picked up Rhys's board and repeativly slammed it against Zach's back. The sheer look of anger on his face as he constantly hit Zach over and over again, Giving Rhys just enough time to wriggle free of the student's grasp and crawl off with a large gash above his right eyebrow.

People from around the mall were gasping and even calling the police as the behemoth of a teenager grabbed Ryou and hit him right in the nose, Dropping him on the ground and leaving his nose broken, Rhys was scared for his life, but he knew he had to fight to at least come out of this fight without any major wounds, He picked up his skateboard and for the third time, Slamming it across Zach, This time the wheel's hit his face and left one hell of a bruise.

"I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL THE BOTH OF YOU" He screamed, Scrambling back up to stand over Rhys. He was completely terrified of what was going to happen next.

Zach lifted him up and slammed him against the pavement. He groaned and slightly whimpered with the constant kicks he received.

Luckily for the two boys. The police finally arrived with sirens and all. The two officers quickly exited their patrol car and rushed towards the beating.

He widened his eyes and began to run off with one of the two officers chasing directly after him, shouting at him to stop while the other officer attended to the two bruised boys.

Shortly after an ambulance was called and Ryou was placed on a stretcher and placed into the back of the van, He had received a mild concussion and a broken nose while Rhys had gotten off with two broken ribs and a fractured shoulder blade.

The two were quickly admitted into the hospital. The both of them felt like they had been through hell. They were in a lot of pain from such damages to their body.

After three hours, The two were placed in hospital beds beside each other, Ryou had a bandage running across his nose and was completely passed out. Rhys on the other hand was in an arm cast and his entire stomach was bandaged.

Rhys laid in the bed, He was in shock on the event that had unfolded during the day. He was so frightened of Zach and because he fought back he was hospitalised.

It only took an hour for the two officers who had came to the rescue to enter the boy's hospital room.

"Hello Christopher, My name is Officer Jacob and this is Officer Wilson, We came to see how you boys are doing after that attack and were wondering if you wanted to press charges on the student who was responsible for your attack." The Officer asked, Dragging a seat to sit beside Rhys's bed.

"Yes.. I'd like to place charges..." He muttered, It seemed like that was all he was able to say due to his the sheer shock of events that had transpired.

"Is it okay if I ask you a couple of questions about your attack?" Jacobs asked, Rhys replied with a simple nod.

Rhys was slow to respond. He was still mindlessly scared of the whole event. He could of sworn he was going to die today.

Soon the officers left with a complete witness statement of the assault and allowed his family to enter the room.

His mother was very upset, Her eyes were red from crying and his little sister was clueless to what had happened. The Hatsu family entered and Rhys was expecting them to shout at his mother but they did the complete opposite, They were worried for both boys and after Ryou came to, the police returned to take his statement, as well as asking if he wanted to press charges in which he soley agreed to do so.

Two more hours passed and the two boys were now alone in their room, It was late at night and Ryou had already fallen to sleep. Rhys was worried about a lot of things at the moment.

_What are people at school going to say about me.. What if that psyco comes to my room.._

Eventually Rhys got some sleep. It wasn't easy but he passed himself out with worrying too much, He was exhausted of course.

* * *

He was falling. falling through a large open blue sky with white fluffy clouds. He felt as if he was falling forever when the clouds dispersed and revealed a huge expanding ocean beneath him.

He put his hands in front of him and then began to flail them. He felt like he was actually falling!

He opened his mouth to scream but was silenced when he hit the musky sea water, closing his eyes roughly after he had hit.

Reopening to find himself glaring at the hospital ceiling. He let out a long sigh of relief, recognising what had happened as simply a dream. But within a mere matter of seconds he looked down at his clothing, he was completely saturated and water was pouring from the sides of his hospital bed.

He screamed.


	5. The First Shift

Rhys sat alone in the corner of his hospital room, his hands were circled around his knee's and his breath was rapid. He was in complete panic, his eyes were wide and darting all across his room.

The salty sea water smell still lingered in his hair. It was a frightening reminder of that what had happened no less than two hours ago.

"Falling.. Falling.." He muttered to himself; feeling as if he was on the verge of insanity, like there was a battle taking place in his mind. trying to define what was both real and figments of his imagination.

"I'm.. going crazy.." He stuttered out, his head was placed against his knee's. Alone in the dark enclosed room.

"_Wake up..."_ A voice whispered through out his head, he stood up and placed his back as far as it could go against the wall.

"Shut up, Shut up, SHUT UP!" He said softly, then broke out into a large panicking scream.

"_Is he alright?" _A second voice entered, Rhys didn't want to hear the voices any-more. He wanted them to disappear; to go away.

Rhys was now in complete silence. He had stopped his breathing to listen closely to the voices.

_Why are they talking to me..._

"_I'm sorry, But there's no pulse. I think he may have drowned.."_

* * *

Rhys shot his head up to supposedly glare off at his hospital bed when instead he ended up glaring at an entirely different surrounding, wooden walls and wooden floors, the room slightly rocking to and fro, three people looking up at him with widened eyes.

"AHHH!" Rhys screamed; from the height of his lungs, falling straight off of the bed and directly onto the floor. He skampered away along the ground and shoved himself against the opposite wall, watching the somewhat colourful clothed people approaching him with their hands up in front of them.

"Who the hell are you people!" Was the first words that flew from his mouth after that god awful scream.

"Sir, My name is Takool, I am the doctor of this vessel, please I need you to calm do-" The man in what seemed to be a long brown leather coat and beige shorts explained before being rudely cut off with some more yelling.

"Calm down?! You fucking kidnapped me!" Rhys screamed yet again, his voice cracking as he did so.

The teen's eyes soon darted towards the door, then back at the three people. He hesitated for a moment before making a run for it.

"He's making a run for it ya!" said an auburn haired wearing a colourful yellow uniform of some sort.

Rhys was somewhat weak as he ran but he ran as fast as his wobbly legs could take him along the vast hallway towards the main stairs. He was no doubt being chased by the three alleged 'kidnappers' from the loud footsteps that followed behind him.

Unfortunately the teenagers legs gave out when he reached the very top of the steps causing him to barrel through the door and land on his side.

He heard the whisking sound of the wind flowing through the air's current, the squawking of seagulls some what floating in the sky above him and the sound of water thrashing against the side of a ship.

Rhys quickly picked himself up and managed to limp forwards as quickly as he possibly could.

The three people were still chasing after the freaked out student with no horrible intentions in mind at all.

_They're going to get me. They're going to grab me!_ He started to panic, he just wanted this to stop.

"GO AWAY!" He screamed. But this time words were not the only thing that spewed from his mouth, a long trail of fire flew from his open lips and towards the three. Two of the three dove out of the way while the third side-tackled the teenager to the ground continuously spewing flame from his mouth people screamed as the boat caught fire and sailors came to control it.

"Wakka!" A female voice shouted from across the boat.

A woman dressed in a long black crevasse dress rushed to the scene of the fire. She simply swiped her hand viciously to the left and created a regular-sized sphere of water, thrusting her hand out and slamming the condensed liquid against the flames. Quickly turning them into gray musky smoke.

"Get-Off-ME!" Rhys struggled against the large man's grip, Twisting and turning from the headlock the semi muscular man had placed him in, his fingernails clawing at the so called Wakka's; arms.

"Naht gonna happen brudda" He said with slight groan, the scratching was actually becoming quite painful to the tanned blitzball captain.

* * *

"NGH!" Rhys gasped, He was now somewhat in the hospital room, it appeared that his hallucination had vanished and had returned to the real-world.

Rhys patted his body with haste. the only thing he felt was the slight dampness of the hospital gown.

"The fuck is going on!" He said, falling back onto the ground, Holding his head in exhaustion. He didn't think his brain was able to handle this kind of insanity.

"You shifted." The voice of a man spoke.

Rhys slowly looked upwards and caught a glimpse at the tall man. He had long flowing hair and a large beard with the colors red, yellow and orange brightly shining from each strand

"You shifted from this world to ours." he said, adding an extra explanation to his previous statement.

Rhys just sat there, staring at the tall broad man. He seemed to have all the answers and Rhys had a couple of questions that needed answering.

"A-Are you real?" was the first and most logical question that popped into his mind.

"I am as real as you believe me to be" He answered.

Rhys slowly rose, becoming a little more confident in himself, continuing to question him.

"What happened to me" He asked.

"You shifted. You came from your world to mine." The transparent figure blankly put it.

"What is shifting." Rhys said with yet another question from his mouth.

"It is the ability to transfer your consciousness into the body of two of the same shape. One here" He made an open palm with one hand.

"And one there" He spoke, showing his other flat open palm.

"Then why can't I just stay here!" He growled, obviously angry that this 'being' had been taking him to places without his permission.

"You haven't adapted, you're shifting at random. Its hard for us to focus.." The man said, seemingly strained at answering.

"You say I have two bodies.. But how come my body was wet here as well as there" He asked. It was the question that lingered on his mind the most.

"That was my mistake.. It was our first time retrieving a mind from your world and placing it in a new replica body in Spira. There were some complications, It wont happen again" The man replied with sincere apology

"Who are you..."

"Call me... Ifrit." The man smiled, Slowly fading into nothing


End file.
